How Cooper earned his nickname :the Pooper"

If you ever visit our home you will probably hear us refer to Cooper as "Pooper", "The Pooper", or "Cooper the Pooper".  Besides the obvious rhyming aspect of the name and the fact that he is followed by a constant fart cloud that smells like poop, there are a few major instances that earned him the name.

Instance #1:

I will set the scene:

Cooper is about 4 months old and hasn't been fully potty trained yet.  It is 8:30 in the morning and I am running late for work so I did not supervise Cooper's morning potty break to make sure that he actually went.  I am in the bedroom getting ready while Cooper is eating breakfast and playing in the living room.

I had just finished getting ready and started heading toward the front door.  As I rounded the bedroom doorway and stepped into the hallway I spotted an ENORMOUS pile of Cooper poop directly behind the couch between me and the front door.  At the same exact time, Cooper spotted me....  As I ran forward yelling ”NOOOOOOO", Cooper ran full speed ahead paying no attention to the fact that he was heading straight for the fresh poop mountain.  He sprinted straight through the poop without slowing.  Poop flew in all directions splattering the floor, the wall, the couch and Cooper. 

Needless to say, between scrubbing floor, wall, mopping the poopy foot prints and washing Cooper, I was pretty late to work.  I am happy to report that shortly after this incident we bought a bell for the door and Cooper was potty trained in a matter of days.

Instance # 2

Scene:

Cooper is about 6 months old, fully potty trained, and broken from chewing on our things. Chase and I had just used our Groupon to Chica's Mexican restaurant and came home to let the dogs out before going out with some friends.  We had to order a dessert to hit our spending threshold on the Groupon so we took a piece of cheesecake to go with us.  Chase and I decided that since Cooper had been doing so well in the house the few times we left him out, we should go ahead and let them stay out of the crate for the rest of the evening while we were gone.  We let them potty, gave Cooper a chew toy and went on our way. 

a few short hours later we arrived home to find a disaster. 

As soon as I unlock and open the door the smell hit me, I knew that Cooper had gone potty in the house.  The next thing that I notice is the bits of Styrofoam to go box all over the house.  I realized then, that we forgot to put the cheesecake in the refrigerator and that Cooper ate it.  Finally, I noticed the full extent of the aftermath: there was poop starting at the beginning of the hallway, trailing to our bedroom, it then trailed from the bedroom door all of the way to the back door.  If this wasn't bad enough, Cooper then ran through the poop several times smashing it down onto the wood and leaving poopy paw prints all over the wood floors.  We had to first wash Cooper so that he didn't trail the poop anywhere else.  After he was clean he had to be contained long enough to take care of the mess, which was torture to clean due to the size that his poop has reached.  Even after all visible signs were gone the house still reeked for 2 days despite the use of candles & room sprays.

Luckily I can say that those are the worse two incidents that we have had.  It still sucks to scoop the giant piles out of the yard, but it is MUCH better than having to clean it off of the floors.

My Big ol' Baby

Golden Retrievers are the biggest babies ever.  Cooper acts like he is a 5 pound lap dog most of the time.  I can’t figure out if he actually thinks he is a tiny dog or if he just really wants to be a tiny dog.  Cooper has gotten into the habit of trying to be a sneaky ninja retriever and creeping into bed when we aren’t paying attention.  We will be laying there watching TV or reading- the next thing we know Cooper is beside us and we can’t recall how long we have been absent mindedly petting him.  We have a good morning and bed time routine of giving him hugs and kisses.  Cooper comes around to each side of the bed and wraps his paw around us and gives us a kiss as we go to bed and wake up- it’s pretty sweet.

    The other night we were watching TV on the couch when Cooper started feeling extra needy.  He normally lays in the floor when we are in the living room, but this particular evening he climbed onto the couch and plopped down right in my lap.  Nothing exciting was happening- we weren’t giving Riley any attention, so I guess he just decided that he needed some lovin’ from momma bear.   It was so sweet I couldn’t find it in my heart to make him get down.  I just wrapped my arms around him and snuggled for a bit.  He always does the same for me when I am feeling extra needy and need a Cooper hug  J

"Knot" being clear

This post isn't really about Cooper, but it was pretty funny so I thought I'd share. 

Chase and I recently planted a few rose bushes in the yard.  Lately they have been wilted and dried out despite how much or little they are being watered.  I thought that the problem might be that the soil wasn't holding the water so I suggested adding some more mulch to the flower bed. 

Chase began the mulch as I watered the other flowers.  As Chase was adding the mulch I reminded him-
 "Make sure to leave the root knot showing".

 I continued watering the rest of the flower bed as he applied the mulch.  I noticed that he was really piling it up on the rose so I repeated myself-
 "Make sure to leave the root knot showing".

This time Chase began actually sprinkling mulch down into the branches of the bush, so I asked-
"Chase, what are you doing?"

Without missing a beat he said with a bewildered expression-
"If I leave the root "not" showing it is covered up right?"

Of course at this point I realized how unclear "root knot" is to someone unfamiliar with gardening terms. After laughing hysterically at our misunderstanding I hugged him, apologized and explained what a root knot actually was. Both of us left the conversation feeling a bit silly.  Little things like this is why I love our relationship- I love that we can  be on the same page 99% of the time and still have little things like this to laugh about. 

TREATS!!!!

It is certainly safe to say that Cooper lives for treats.  Any time he hears us rustling around in the treat box he comes running.  Cooper knows that in order to get the treat he has to be sitting inside his crate, so as soon as the treats are in my hand he makes a bee line for the office.  For whatever reason he doesn’t take the “easy way” around the table… Cooper has to ram his self under or behind the table taking out anything that might be in his way (chairs, plug-ins, Christmas trees, etc.).    If the office door is closed he runs around nervously whining until I arrive to let him in.  One time, his crate was closed when he got in the office so he tried to squeeze himself into Riley’s tiny crate.  This was hilarious for 2 reasons: 
 1) Cooper is about twice the size of the actual crate.
 2) Riley’s crate sits on top of Cooper’s so he was dangling in the air with his head and front paws in the door of hers. 

Riley is a little pickier than Cooper and will only eat her treat if it is something that she really likes or is hungry.  Cooper has made a routine out of going potty when we get home and then running straight in to check Riley’s crate for leftover treats and crumbs.  We have learned to steer clear of cheapo treats the hard way after days of constant Cooper-bombings!

There's no doubt that the way into Cooper's heart is with a tasty treat!

Cooper: Expert Dog Walker and Ice Crusher

I have never met a dog who loved ice as much as Cooper.  No matter where he is, he will be at your side in .05 seconds if he hears the ice dispenser.  He sits next to the refrigerator staring at you- then the ice - then back at you until you hand over the frozen watery treat.   Should you not hand it over before you walk away from the ice maker he will sit with a confused look on his face as if to say “What?  No ice?  But I was sitting here like such a good boy!”  Once he does score his icy prize he walks around crunching it, drooling all over the kitchen floor.  He will also try to fit as many pieces in his mouth as he can hold.  Should he succeed in eating all of them at the same time, the drool puddles turn into drool lakes.  Although ice directly from the source is his favorite, Cooper will also fish it out of his bowl, the dirt, grass and your glass if it is within reach.

I think Cooper’s 2^nd love is going on walks.  It has become a chore to get the harness around him while he is spinning wildly with excitement like a rodeo bull.  After the harness is successfully fastened he then jumps up and down at the door until you open it.  Chase and I recently discovered that Cooper not only likes to be walked, but he also likes to be the one doing the walking.  He grabs the handle of Riley’s leash if he can get his mouth on it, and tries to walk her as we walk him.  It is pretty funny to see our chain of human walking dog and dog walking dog.  We have to take control of Riley from Cooper when he gets excited and starts dragging her around.  I think that he likes pulling her so much because it is the only way that he can get her to chase himJ.

More Cooper-isms:

Cooper bite- n. The biting of Chase’s bare nipple when he isn’t looking.  I would presume that he would react the same way to any bare nipple, but luckily he has only been exposed to Chase's.  It is now a house hold game to pinch Chase’s nipple and yell “Cooper Bite!” when he least expects it. 

Coop-attack- v. Being pounced on by Cooper when you least expect it.  This usually occurs while you are sleeping or watching TV.  Coop-attacks involve a lot of clawing, licking andhair. He will occasionally release a coop-bomb while he is retreating.  These attacks are typically combated with a lot of yelling.

Introduction to Cooper

Chase and I have a 7 month old retriever named Cooper.  He is the funniest, sweetest, stinkiest dog ever. There hasn't been a dull moment since last September when I brought him home.    I thought I could use this first blog to introduce him and provide a basic dictonary of "Cooper- isms".

About our little family:

We live in a small neighborhood in North Oklahoma City.  The family is composed of me, Chase (fiance), Riley Berlin (mini daschund age 4) and Cooper (Golden Retriever age 7 months).  We consider the pups our furry children and they pretty much rule the roost as long as they aren't tearing anything up or littering the house with bodily fluids (drool excluded).  Cooper and Riley  have a love-hate relationship, she would love to love him, but he is big and clumsy, so it is hard for her sometimes.  He, on the other hand, loves her unconditionally.  Riley is about 9 pounds, cuddly, protective and cute as a bug.  Cooper is 60 pounds of hair, drool, paws and pure energy.  Cooper is under the impression that he is also a 9 pound lap dog and is genuinely offended when you try to treat him otherwise. 

Here are a few terms that may help  with future posts:

"Cooping around" v. - Any kind of activity that may be rambunctious, mindless, smell bad, involve something squeeky, or involve excessive amounts of energy. 
Example:  Chase and I were trying to sleep in this weekend, but it was hard to do with all of the Cooping around that was going on.

Cooper n. - Something that is loud, clumsy, over excited, hairy, blissfully ignorant(Usually found in sentences like "Why are you such a Cooper?"). 
Example: When he came crashing through the door, wet and muddy, Chase and I were wondering why the hairy beast had to be such a Cooper.

Coop-bomb n. - Similar to any normal doggy fart, but much, much stinkier than anyone could imagine and lingers much longer.   Also frequently accompanied by noise. 
Example- Chase and I were laying in bed when we were smacked in the nostrils by a Coop-bomb.